The Stand: Second Exodus
by omnicaj
Summary: A side story based off of The Stand (obviously) about the journey of one of the parties that arrived after the defeat of Randall Flagg.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One- June 30th  
  
The soft sounds of a harmonica traveled down the otherwise silent streets of Valencia, Ohio, rousing Cio Nyota from a rather fitful rest. She groaned softly, trying to remember why she was sleeping outside in the park instead of at her house. A few more notes sounded from the harmonica before it all came rushing back to her. It had started two weeks ago, with all of those people getting sick and the army people barricading the roads. Her parents had been among those who had fallen to "Captain Trips", and it wasn't long after they died that she had been unable to stay in the house. Her search throughout the neighborhood had left her with the conclusion that she was the only person left, until this morning, with her awakening to the instrument's lonely serenade.  
  
"Of course harmonicas don't play themselves." She spoke aloud, as if to assure herself that she hadn't joined the former residents of Valencia in their fates. That out of the way, Cio decided to see if she could find whoever was playing the harmonica. From the sound of it, they were in the direction of the lake in the town park. "Maybe they'll have a house with an extra room." She mused, continuing her one-sided dialogue. "It sure would beat this onion grass."  
  
Quite to her surprise, the musician turned out to be a boy who seemed to me only a few years older than she was. His back was turned to her at the moment, so she could only see that he had brown hair (that blatantly defied gravity in places). He was seated on a rock about six or seven feet out on the water, and with the effects of the sunlight dancing off of the water's surface compounded with her own crushing loneliness, the sight bordered on ethereal in her eyes. Cio opened her mouth to say something, but was struck with the fear that the boy could be a mere hallucination, and anything she said might cause him to disappear like the morning mist. Even when the boy turned around, his eyes widening in shock at the sight of her, she held on to her silence. The boy's surprise soon faded, turned his gasp into a delighted smile. With and unexpected display of athletic ability, he easily jumped from the rock to shore without losing his balance and dashed up the slope leading to the path that Cio was currently standing on. Stopping about four feet in front of her, he paused to catch his breath, grinning like there was no tomorrow. It struck Cio as morbidly amusing that there might be some truth to that idiom these days. "I thought I was the only one left in the whole city." The boy began. "I live near the trailer parks, so that might explain why I've never seen you around. Where do you live?" Cio couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Are you real, or am I just imagining you?" she asked softly, as if to keep from scaring him away. The boy jerked in surprise to the question, then patted himself a couple of times, producing a firm thumping sound. "I'm pretty sure I am. If not, you have a really good imagination. Unable to contain her relief at finding companionship, Cio dashed forwards and embraced him. "What.?" the boy started, then relaxed and hesitantly patted her on the back. Convinced now?" he asked softly. Cio broke away from him and nodded, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm not used to being myself. You're the first person I've seen since my parents died."  
  
The two of them stood in silence for a moment, reflecting on the events of the last few weeks. Felling somewhat awkward, Cio spoke up. "Let's try this again." She smoothed out the front of her shirt, then extended a hand. "My name is Cio Nyota. Pleased to meet you."  
  
The boy eyed her hand for a moment, and smiling, reached out with his own and shook it. "Mine's Tairesu Viscarra. Likewise. Now what do you say we get some thing to eat and come up with a way to get out of here?" Cio's smile increased ten-fold at the prospect of real food. "That sounds great. I haven't had anything good since the power when out." "I know how you feel. I got lucky and found a small gasoline generator and hooked it up to a fridge. I haven' got a lot of selection, but there's stuff for a club sandwich. Sound good?" "That's the best thing I've heard in a long time. What are we waiting for?" Tairesu shrugged, then started walking back to the house he'd been staying in. Cio stood where she was for a little longer, glancing out to the rock in the water. "Well, I guess dreams do come true." She mused, then hurried to catch up with Tairesu.  
  
If he thought he was getting that sandwich to himself, he was crazy. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- July 5  
  
Tairesu awoke with the immediate feeling of displacement. He opened his eyes only to see tall stalks waving in the breeze above his head. He wasn't fully awake yet, but Tairesu was pretty sure there wasn't corn growing in the house he had been sleeping in for the last few days. It was then Tairesu realized that a certain familiar presence was nowhere to be seen. "Cio?" he called out uncertainly, his guard up for any kind of attack. "And here I figure I'd be able to relax once most of the planet was killed off." He muttered softly, then began trekking through the corn, not really sure where he was going. "Is anybody out here?" he shouted a few more times, but he was met wit no immediate response. After knocking aside a few more stalks, Tairesu sat back down, trying to decide what to do next.  
  
Then he noticed it: someone was playing a guitar nearby. He wasn't familiar with the sound, but it sounded a lot like the spiritual that he heard coming out of the church house on Sunday mornings from his previous house, if the wind was blowing right. Deciding it was coming from his left, he began pushing in that direction, hoping that perhaps they had seen Cio around.  
  
Finally, Tairesu pushed through the last row of corn. He found himself in front of what could only be described as a shack. It had a porch jutting out of the front like the lower jaw of a stubborn old-timer, and by all accounts seemed abandoned. Tairesu glanced around for a few moments, then deciding that Cio wasn't there, he turned and began to walk away.  
  
"Hold on a mite bit, child. Come here closer so I can get a good look at you." Tairesu whirled around to see a woman who seemed older than the porch she was sitting on. The old woman laughed softly. "You're close, child, but I do believe this ol' shanty beats me by about three years." Tairesu's first thought was that he was sure that he had only thought that; his second was slight annoyance at being called child. "You look just like a dreamt you to be," the woman continued. "That other child was pining away alone. It's good you two found each other."  
Tairesu's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you talking about Cio? Where is she? And who the hell are you?" The woman's smile didn't even quiver under Tairesu's glare. "You lived hard, my boy. Harder than I'll ever brag at. But you have to trust sometimes. As for who I am, my name's Abagail Freemantle, but most just call me Mother Abagail. I sense we'll never meet on this side of heaven, but I do hope to see you sometime. I'll be at this old shack as long as I can. You know where to find me."  
  
Tairesu sat up on the futon he'd put together the night before with an odd feeling about him. "Well, that was an odd dream." Glancing to the left, he saw that Cio was still sleeping. He sighed softly, with the realization that he hadn't felt so calm in years. There was also a need to move on tugging at him softly, but at that moment hunger had a greater pull. Stretching a bit, he rolled his blankets up against a wall and headed downstairs, trying to remember what else he had in the fridge. "I wonder how Cio takes her eggs?"  
  
*************************************************  
  
"So Cio, what do you think we should do?" Cio looked at him somewhat oddly. "Why do you ask that?" Tairesu shrugged. "Well, before I found you, I was planning to head out. I've been looking at some cars at the dealership."  
  
"Hold on a second. How old are you?" Tairesu smiled slightly. "What, afraid I'll be pulled over as an underage driver? I think that's a very low priority amongst any surviving cops, Cio." Cio laughed once she considered this. "Even if the were, I am sixteen. I would have been taking my driving test this month if it weren't for the plague." Cio looked surprised to hear that. 'But I thought you were closer to my age. I'm almost as tall as you and I'm only eleven." Tairesu scowled softly. "So I'm a bit short for my age. My dad was Asian, so it might be from him."  
  
"I'm sorry. So, where are we getting it? My parents have a Honda, so I guess we could use that."  
  
"I was thinking more along the lines of a four wheel drive. I figure from looking around here, the road will be blocked up from a lot of the people who tried to run away and died on the street, and we'd have to go off-road to get around them." "That makes sense, but I don't know where we could get some." Tairesu smiled a bit grimly. "No intention to disrespect the dead, but I don't think the manager will mind if we take one from the car lot. No one else is using them. I was looking at a Chevy before we met. I've got it gassed up and ready to go."  
  
"I've only got one more question. Where exactly are we planning on going, anyway?" Tairesu paused for a moment, then answered, "Call it crazy, but I'm leaning towards Nebraska."  
  
Cio blinked. "Why would that be crazy?"  
  
Tairesu sighed softly. "Well, I had this really weird dream last night. There was this old black woman sitting on the porch of an older shack."  
  
".you're talking about Mother Abagail, aren't you?" Tairesu whirled on her immediately. "How'd you know?" Cio hesitated, reaching behind her back and clasping her left arm in her right hand. "Come on Cio," Tairesu coaxed. "If you didn't think that I was nuts, I could at least give you the same courtesy." Nodding, Cio continued. "Well, I've had dreams about Mother Abagail for a while now. Before we met, see always said I find a companion to travel to Nebraska with. I think she was talking about you."  
  
Tairesu didn't know how to respond to that. He had never believed n the paranormal or supernatural, but what he was hearing definitely seemed to run along those lines. "I don't really have any kind of answer for that, Cio." He admitted, "but I guess the best thing we could do right now is follow our instincts. I've been doing it most of my life, so I guess I shouldn't stop now. So, what do you say we do?"  
  
Cio looked out the window, off towards the horizon. "I say we get to Nebraska two days ago."  
  
******************************************************  
  
Two hours later, the two of them were driving along the highway in a Chevy Blazer, Tairesu proving to be a rather admirable driver after all, baring the circumstances. The Blazer's four-wheel drive combined with its V- 8 handle their detours round the accidents Tairesu predicted with relative ease. From what the boy could tell from his occasional glances over to his passenger, Cio was obviously enjoying the ride. At the moment, she was leaning out of the window, her hair being whipped about by the wind of their traveling. "You know, your hair will get pretty knotted up doing that." he commented. Cio blinked in realization, then pulled her head back into the car. She immediately began digging through the bags they had put in the back of the truck, looking for a comb. "I guess you're right. It's just that I'm excited. I've never been out of Ohio in my life. So, where are we stopping tonight?"  
  
"Well, I'm hoping that we'll make it to Toledo's outskirts before sunset, then we'll hit Route 80 and take that to Nebraska. After that, we'll just have to wing it."  
  
"How long to you think it will take for us to get there?"  
  
"It depends. We'll have to sty away from the cities, because that's where traffic will have been the worst, so we won't be going there directly. I hope you don't mind back roads too much. I'm estimating about eighteen to twenty hours driving time overall, so if we go six hours driving a day, three or four days. That's optimistically."  
  
"Optimistically?"  
  
"Well, we might get held up somewhere, the truck could break down and we'd have to find a new one, all sorts of things could happen."  
  
"Oh, you mean in a good light."  
  
It was then that it clicked; Cio had been asking what optimistically meant. "Sorry. I keep forgetting you're eleven."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?!"  
  
"Don't worry about it." For now, let's just stay focused on getting to Nebraska. I get the feeling that we'll have enough troubles on the way without starting some between us."  
  
Cio nodded in agreement, then yawned softly. "I always get tired while in the car. Do you mind if I go to sleep?" Tairesu shook his head. "Nah. There shouldn't be any problems, but I'll wake you up if something comes up." "Ok." Cio yawned, curling up the best she could while buckled into the seat. "Good night, Tai-ru."  
  
Tairesu stiffened. The last person to have called him that was.he shook his head quickly to clear the memories and refocused on the road ahead of him. He couldn't bring himself to loosen his grip on the steering wheel, however. He idly looked up at the sky, watching as an eagle circled around in the endless blue. He thought of the times when he was feeling at his worst, and he would go to the roofs of buildings and watch similar birds soar by, or the stars appear at twilight. "When do you suppose everything will be right again?" he inquired of the eagle as it glided out of his line of sight.  
  
The eagle didn't have any answers. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own The Stand: Complete and Uncut or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in any way shape for form. If I did my current monetary troubles would be much less of an issue. I'd also like to apologize to any readers who have been waiting on this chapter. I assure you, the best is yet to come!  
  
The Stand: Second Exodus  
Written By Tairesu1586  
  
July 9  
  
Denji Pearson glanced up at the sound of footsteps on the porch, then relaxed as the door opened, revealing his new acquaintance, Darren Brownstone. The young man kicked at a boot lying in front of him and fell down onto the nearest available chair, a dusty recliner. Coughing slightly at the dust thrown up, Denji spoke up.  
  
"So, is it as bad as we guessed?"  
  
Darren nodded soberly. "There are army blockades at all three main exits to the town, and I suspect there may be snipers out by the back roads. From what I could see at the main road, anyone who ties to break through the blockade is shot immediately." Denji's brow furrowed. "Did you see this happen?" Once again, Darren nodded. "It was one of the guys from the auto repair shop. The flu had him so damn delirious, he never even saw the guns, let alone the other bodies on the ground."  
  
Denji nodded. "How many people are well enough to fight?" Darren snorted. "About twenty, I'd guess. And that number could drop by half by the time we wake up tomorrow. No way we could overpower even the smallest blockade."  
  
"I'd have to agree with you. No forward charge would survive the firepower from the army. So, I liberated a few of these." Walking over to a closet, he opened the door and flipped on a light.  
  
Darren swore in astonishment. "PSG-1's! Where did you get those from, they're army issue!" Denji shrugged. "The army isn't any more immune to Captain Trips than civilians. I managed to lift these off of some snipers that had died guarding the back roads before they were recovered. It just so happens that there's a decent rise to the west of the main barricade."  
  
".So if we attack at sunset, the glare might offer some cover if they try to return fire! That's genius, Denji!" The man snorted. "More like common sense. Now, it's about 3 'o clock now, and sunset should be around seven- thirty. Go inform anyone able that we're going to try and breakout around that time, and to be ready. Come back and tell me when you're done." Darren got up and dashed out the door, leaving Denji rather amused at the boy's youthful exuberance. "To think I was that young once. Rome falls and the kid jumps for joy at an errand." Denji sighed and settled back in his chair. True, this town was nice, but it sure would be nice to be allowed to leave.  
  
When Denji had drifted into Rock-Bridge two weeks ago, he barely beat the army division assigned to the area, which immediately set up quarantine to hopefully keep the epidemic out of the small town. Needless to say, the citizens were initially grateful, as the blockade held back the spread of the disease for several days. But somewhere along the line, the safeguard failed, and even when it became visibly clear the flu had broken through, the army would left anyone leave or enter, under the premise of "containing the disease".  
  
The uneasy truce collapsed when the town mayor attempted to approach the barricade to reason with the unit's current commander, (as the original one had died the day before) and was executed under grounds of treason. Two previous attempts to break out were summarily deflected, and the majority of the population chose to hang back and try to outlive the army. So far, that strategy was failing miserably.  
  
"We'll only have one chance at this, you know, and he people here are going to die anyway." He had once commented shortly after meeting Darren, the only other immune in the area. "It would be easier to escape from one of the side roads." Darren had immediately whirled on the older man in fury. "So I should just leave them all here to die like some forgotten pet hamster in a cage?" The boy had taken a moment to compose himself, then continued. "That might me easier for you to say, being an outsider, and I won't lie and say I haven't considered that option before. But lots of those people dying are ones I've known all my life. It would be like leaving my family here. If there's anyway at all I can get the able out of here, so they can at least die free, I have to take it."  
  
Denji smiled softly at the memory. Darren hadn't looked Denji in the eye for the remainder of the day. He glanced out the window, starting slightly to see that the sun was already beginning its descent below the horizon. Walking to the closet, he picked up the rifles and headed to the door. Darren met up with him a short distance outside, and without another word the duo headed towards the main barricade, carrying not only their weapons, but also the hopes of Rock-Bridge on their shoulders.  
  
Private John DiMaggio glanced up at the nearby rise with some unease, then sneezed. Wiping his nose for what felt like the umpteenth time he headed toward the command center, the unease lingering after him until he had entered the trailer and walked into the commander's office, which was now occupied by General Adam Paul. "Sir? Permission to speak freely?" the private asked hesitantly. "Damn the formalities, John." Came the general's response. "This flu's done what no laws or changes in view could; it created a true equality among men. What's on your mind?"  
  
The private blinked, then began. "It's that rise to the west of us. I was thinking, when the former mayor attempted to approach us, he was unseen for some distance due to the setting sun. The residents have been getting a bit restless, or at least those who are able to, and anyone with a long-range weapon could cause us some damage from that hill."  
  
The general snickered. "Well, that had been considered when we first took this position, so we set some snipers on the opposing ridge outside of town." Then the general hesitated. "We need to send a couple guys over there to check up on those guys and make sure they're not dead. Why don't you take care of that?"  
  
John nodded, then turned walk out of the office, but a thump behind him caught his attention. He turned around to see the general falling to the floor behind his desk with half of his head down. John's nearly cried out, but a flash of light outside the window caught his attention. Thought the glare from the sun about blinded him, he was just able to make out a couple of forms pointing towards the base through the open window. Then a bullet entered his own forehead and security was the least of his worries.  
  
It took exactly seven minutes for the barricades to be overthrown, as most of the able soldiers fled at the first gunshots, and the few that remained to fight were crushed under the stampede of people fleeing through the now abandoned blockade. Denji and Darren were the last to leave, as the boy refused to leave his bike behind, and Denji still had to find suitable transportation. He rolled up half an hour later astride a custom Harley that dropped Darren's jaw. When he recovered from his shock, he asked, "So, where are we headed?"  
  
Denji shrugged. "I've been thinking about heading west. That sound good to you?" Darren hesitated. "How far west?" Again Denji shrugged. "Until a good place pops up. I'll just follow my dreams, I guess." With that said, Denji started up his bike and roared down Main Street, weaving around the occasional corpse.  
  
Darren stood still for several seconds, praying Denji hadn't said quite what he had heard. Shaking off the chills going down his spine, he started his own cycle, taking comfort in the steady purr of the engine. Immediately gassing it to catch up, Darren popped a wheelie, hoping it would throw off the sense of unease he now had.  
  
Right now, Darren would gladly go anywhere on earth, as long as it didn't lead to the dark man. 


End file.
